The UK computer agency Becta has complained to the Office of Fair Trading and is advising schools not to sign licensing agreements with Microsoft because of alleged anti-competitive practices.Becta says talks with Microsoft have not resolved “fundamental concerns” about academic licensing and about Office 2007 and the Vista operating system which revolve around the tactic of getting licensees to pay annually rather than one off fees. Microsoft places limitation on schools using its subscription licensing arrangements.
Becta’s advice to schools considering moving to Microsoft’s School Agreement subscription licensing model is that they should not do so. It reminds schools they are legally obliged to have licensed software, but suggests they use instead what is known as “perpetual licensing”. If schools have already signed up with Microsoft, Becta says “they should consider their renewal and their buyout options”. It advises schools to deploy Office 2007 only “when its interoperability with alternative products is satisfactory”. In a previous report, Becta said primary schools could typically save up to 50% and secondary schools more than 20% of their ICT costs if they switched to “open source” software.
This is another strong signal that there is something unethical at the core of MS’s business model. The alternatives, however, are now available and ICT decision makers should consider more carefully their responsibilities to users.
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